US policeman used Taser on 72-year-old woman

A 72-year-old woman who refused to sign her speeding ticket got out of her truck and dared a deputy to shock her with a Taser. So he did.

Video released by a Travis County Constable's Office shows Kathryn Winkfein hitting the ground and moaning while the shocks jolted through her body after the confrontation with Chris Bieze, Travis County sheriff's deputy.

Mrs Winkfein was stopped for driving 60 mph in a 45-mph zone just west of Austin. Video from a camera in the deputy's car showed Mrs Winkfein, who is 4ft 11 inches tall, refusing to sign her speeding ticket, getting out of her white pick-up truck and swearing at the deputy constable.

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The video showed Mr Bieze using the Taser and Mrs Winkfein hitting the ground and moaning in pain.

"Put your hands behind your back or you're going to be Tased again," Mr Bieze shouted, and then hits her with another jolt.

Travis County Sheriff Greg Hamilton, whose office does not oversee the constables, issued a statement saying: "I do not personally agree with the actions of the deputy constable as they are shown in the video. When I look at the video I am in awe of what happened."

Mrs Winkfein was eventually charged with resisting arrest, a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and fines up to $4,000.

Constable Sgt. Maj. Gary Griffin has defended Mr Bieze's actions and said that Mrs Winkfein was belligerent and difficult to handle.

Mrs Winkfein previously told Austin television station KTBC that she didn't believe she deserved to be shocked.

"I wasn't argumentative, I was not combative. This is a lie," she told the station.